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Nigeria Police Opens 24-Hour Schools Protection Squad Centre in Abuja
The Nigeria Police Force established a round-the-clock command centre on 11 June 2026 to handle school-related security emergencies. The move follows years of mass abductions and school closures.
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The Nigeria Police Force opened a 24-hour Schools Protection Squad Command and Control Centre at its headquarters in Abuja on 11 June 2026. The centre forms part of the Safe Schools Initiative and is intended to coordinate rapid responses to threats against schools, students and staff nationwide.
The SPS Call Centre accepts reports of attacks on schools and student hostels, bullying, molestation, harassment, kidnapping and abduction.
It also logs suspicious movements near school grounds and along routes used by students. An emergency line, 080-77-35-77-77, is available for calls and WhatsApp messages. Call handlers operate every day of the week to receive distress calls, coordinate rapid-response teams and arrange timely intervention in school-related incidents.
The launch follows a decade of school-targeted violence that began with the April 2014 abduction of 276 girls from Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State. Since that incident, Nigeria has recorded 30 mass abductions in which 2,310 students were taken, according to figures cited by AllAfrica.
The attacks have occurred in Kaduna, Lagos, Katsina, Niger, Yobe, Ekiti, Oyo, Borno, Ogun, Zamfara, Kogi, Kebbi, Sokoto and Nasarawa states.
UNICEF reported in 2022 that more than 11,500 schools had closed across Nigeria since 2020 because of insecurity and that at least 1,436 pupils and 17 teachers had been abducted in the same period. Nigeria signed the Safe Schools Declaration in 2015 and later introduced a National Plan on Financing Safe Schools valued at about N145 billion for 2023-2026.
The federal programme aims to improve physical security at schools, strengthen community protection measures and maintain learning during emergencies.
